Graham Norton

BIOGRAPHY

Ever since he burst onto our screens at the end of the Nineties, Ireland-born Graham Norton has been a firm fixture on British TV. The larger than life personality first came to the attention of the nation playing a priest in hit comedy Father Ted, before a stint standing in for late night talk show host Jack Docherty revealed his true vocation. He was soon snapped up by Channel 4 to front his own programme and, with his sharp-tongued wit, cheeky chappie demeanour and slew of high-profile celebrity guests including Britney Spears, Cher and Elton John his show was an instant hit. These days County cork-raised Graham, who at one point lived in a commune in San Francisco, is as at home in Hollywood as he is in New York or Cape Town, where he also owns homes. Despite his fame and fortune, however, he remains based in East London and his friends are still those he made years ago at the city's Central School of Art and Drama, in the days he waited tables and dreamed up sketches to take to the Edinburgh Fringe